stuck??? I don't know what charts you are looking at practically all the indexes have been in a major uptrend since beginning of 2004. Before that they were in a major downtrend. just pull up any weekly chart, doesn't get much clearer than that
Legend says that if you catch a leprecaun, he must give you his treasure. Common sense says that if you catch a trend, you'll make money. But you can't even get people here to agree on what a trend is, much less how to go about catching one. Long-term trends, however you chose define them, are becoming as rare as leprecauns. So it may be a moot question as to exactly how you define a trend and subsequently catch one. These trend threads are starting to look like arguments over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.
lol all the responses here makes me wonder if our current trading "truths" were typed out by monkeys.
There are 3 types of trends; up, down, and lateral. Decipher which one the market is in and trade accordingly. Buy on dips in up trends, short on rallys in downtrends and sit out at first during lateral. Most traders lose their shorts during lateral trends. My level of trading is only in one direction during lateral trends. Otherss, are able to trade both directions during lateral trends and really clean up. The Daily INDU has been in an up trend/lateral leg since 7-8. 8-5 marks a change in trend for me. These longer trends then ripple on through the faster timeframe trends. This will probably not help anyone since you guys are talking about angels, leprauchauns, pins, and ivyleaguers and all the other nonpertinent stuff to trading and its corresponding trends.
Guy, When something is constantly making new highs, as your chart shows before 2001, it can hardly be said to be trading in a range. 5yr